Ironic Power Failures
by Haileyamandar
Summary: Ulrich gets trapped inside one of the transporters during a power outage when the gang impulsively decides to play hide and seek. Kiwi is with him, and pretty soon someone else is going to join them... The irony never ends.


No. Way. No freaking way.

Of all moments for the power to cut off, I just _had_ to be inside of the transporter. And to make things worse… Kiwi was with me, a smelly, useless dog that took up what little valuable space I had in here. Why did Odd even keep him at the school? What was the point in that, anyways? There wasn't any point, besides driving me nuts.

The dog had ran inside at the last moment as the doors closed, and the next thing I knew, the light inside had shut off, and the whole factory seemed to be a lot quieter. The only thing I could hear was Yumi's voice, as she called in surprise from the power outage, and even then, I couldn't understand a word she was saying.

I, Ulrich Stern, was officially pissed off, and not to mention, starting to get rather worried.

Of all days to decide on playing a childish game (and a game that we never play, I swear!) it _had _to be today, and I _had _to choose one of the transporters as a hiding place.

"Dang it," I cursed under my breath, pushing Kiwi off of me as he tried to lick my face. It was dark, completely dark. Of course it would be dim; there was no light outside to shine through any possible cracks in this godforsaken hump of metal because we just _had_ to play a game of hide-and-seek at night.

Do you ever feel like you're just getting picked on when stupid, ironic stuff like this happens to you?

I felt a drop of sweat slide down my forehead, and Kiwi reached his head over and licked it off. I pushed him away again, even though I knew there was no use. That dog always managed to struggle out of my grip.

I sighed heavily, clenching my jaws and my fists. Would I ever get out of here? Pretty soon I'd run out of oxygen. That is, if I didn't die of insanity first.

I felt like a child who had hidden himself in a refrigerator. That kind of thing happened all the time – I read in the newspapers once about a boy who was playing hide-and-seek and found an old refrigerator near somebody's trashcans, hid inside of it, his friend never found him, and he died from lack of oxygen.

"Hey!!" I yelled for anyone of my friends: Yumi, who was 'it', Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita. Of course, I got no answer, and I didn't bother yelling again. It would only waste my time, energy… Oh, and oxygen.

Which reminded me once again of Kiwi. I could hear him panting as he sat on my lap, breathing my precious air… I considered choking the dog to death; it would probably add an extra hour to my lifespan. I was never that cold-hearted, though, so I let it go.

"Even though I'm not fond of you, little pup, I'll spare you. If I end up being found alive, I'd end up being killed by Odd anyways." The tan mutt nudged my fingers with his cold, black nose, leaving a wet trail. You can think of it as a "thank-you" if you'd like, but I figured it was just another way for the dog to annoy the crap out of me. I patted the canine's head and sighed, leaning my head against the wall of the round transporter.

I don't know why, but I suddenly began to think about the time in Lyoko where Yumi was almost lost when she fell off a cliff in one of the sectors in Lyoko. Using my awesome speed, however, I managed to save her life and pulled her up to safety. It was then that I really knew Yumi had some sort feelings for me, but to my dismay she decided to deny it all afterwards.

"We were so close, Kiwi." I lifted the dog towards what I thought was my face, talking to him as if he was a human friend. "So close. I would have had my first kiss with Yumi."

Kiwi quickly yapped, and Ulrich sighed. "Sissy doesn't count!"

Suddenly, a voice outside of the transporter snapped Ulrich back into his worried, pissed off state, and he sat up onto his knees and placed his hands on the wall. It sounded like Yumi. _Of course_ it was Yumi.

"…Jeremie…………..Ulrich…Odd, Aelita…"

I felt my heart race like a maniac. She was right upstairs it sounded like, where the main computer was located in the basement. _She might be able to hear me if I yell_, I thought, and immediately I raised my voice as loud as I could and called to her. "YUMI! I'M DOWN HERE! I'M TRAPPED!"

A few moments of silence passed, then a few more. I almost lost hope of every getting out of that trash heap until I heard footsteps on the metal ladders. I smiled weakly.

The footsteps stopped and I guessed Yumi was now inside the transporter room. My guess was right when I heard her voice again, this time louder and clearer, and definitely a lot closer.

"Ulrich? Was it you I just heard?"

I pictured her tucking strands of her black hair behind her ears as she looked around in the dark room. Thinking about that made me wonder how she could see without any lights around. That was beside the point, however, and I called out to her again.

"Yumi! I'm in the first transporter on the left! I got stuck when the power shut off!"

Footsteps, and then her voice again. This time it was like she was right in front of me, which, actually, she technically was.

"Ulrich, there's a power outage," she said, unable to hide the worry in her voice. I grinned, enjoying the thought of her being worried about me.

"Yes, go figure," I replied, laughing out loud. My eyes softened for a moment, and then Kiwi's smooth tongue on my elbow brought me back into reality and common sense. "How can you see?"

"I have a flashlight. I've always come prepared for a game of hide-and-seek in the dark." In other words, she was a cheater. "Anyways, I-"

She was cut off with a loud rumbling, and suddenly all the lights turned on, including the ones in my transporter. And since the power was back on, that means that the doors were working properly… To my surprise (and Yumi's, I'm sure) the doors suddenly opened, and Yumi came tumbling inside. Right on top of me, too, though I didn't really mind that detail.

Yumi's face grew red and Kiwi barked, jumping out of the cramped space into the outside world – sort of. I laughed out loud again, taking in a nice gulp of fresh air staring up at Yumi's face. Her thin hair fell across part of my face, and I had to squirm my nose to keep myself from sneezing. I heard the doors off the transporter close, and noticed how Kiwi jumped back inside with the two of us. It didn't faze me though, considering the power was still on.

I hate to spoil the good news, but get this – the factory's power seemed to be working at full capacity, until the humming of working machinery suddenly quieted, and the lights clicked off once more. My eyes went wide, and Yumi quickly scrambled off of me.

"WHAT?? I get saved, only to get trapped again?! This is so unfair!!" I clenched my fists and bit my bottom lip, forgetting all about Yumi next to me.

That, of course, didn't last long, deeming the size of the small obstruction. So now there were three of us squished together: Yumi, Kiwi, and me. I felt Yumi wiggle around, trying to get into a comfortable position, while Kiwi rushed on top of me. To be honest, I probably would have been all right it _Kiwi_ wasn't there with us. I promise that someone or something has interrupted every moment I ever almost had with Yumi so far. Just like that kiss I never got. I angrily pushed the dog off of me.

"Yumi, that's my foot," I said as I felt her hand squash my toes underneath my sneaker.

"Well, Ulrich, that's my hand," she retorted, and I blushed as I realized that my calloused left hand was crushing her right hand. I pulled it away, uttering a quick "sorry". It was hard to get comfortable, considering it would be awkward if we just splayed out over each other. Unfortunately (or was it), though, it was looking as if it was going to have to be that way.

"Listen Yumi, I'll scoot over a little bit to the right and lay my legs out. You can rest your legs on my stomach. It's not working this way," I said gently, hoping the spirited girl wasn't going to object. Yumi was smart though and knew that I was right, and she quietly sighed as I shifted over. She moved her legs over my body and I felt them sit on my lower stomach, and I felt heat radiating off of my cheeks.

I had almost forgotten about Kiwi, but he made himself known and jumped on top of a very tender spot of mine, causing me to screech with pain. The annoying pup yelped loudly and ran across my stomach and chest and settled into that little space between Yumi and I. I cursed under my breath like earlier before, feeling an aching pain down below. Seriously, what good was that dog??

Yumi giggled, and I scoffed. "What's funny?" I growled, though it was half-hearted.

I felt Yumi shrug, and I pictured the mocking, playful smile across her face. Dang, she was so pretty, even just in my thoughts.

"Alright. I get it," I said, putting humor in my voice.

For a while we hit a lull, and neither of us said anything, just shifted around uncomfortably. I was actually beginning to relax, and I started to doze off when Yumi interrupted me.

"I'm getting worried, Ulrich. There's no sign of the others, and there's no telling when the power is coming back on."

She was right. Dang it. "You're supposed to be looking for them, remember? I doubt it will be the other way around."

She moved her legs off of my stomach.

"Yeah, I am, but I'm sure they've left their hiding spots by now. It's been a couple hours. Actually, they may have already left when the power came back on."

She fidgeted a bit more until our shoulders were touching.

I sighed heavily. "Yumi, if we die, it's been nice knowing you. But to be honest, I'm not ready to die yet." It was then I scooted closer to her, until not only her our shoulders brushing, but our hips too. I was surprised that she didn't scoot away. Have you ever noticed how she seemed to get into her "me" moods when we were in some sort of danger?

Once again, we didn't say anything for a while. I listened to her steady breathing, and Kiwi's too, and wondered where the crap the others were. It was times like these I wished we were allowed to have our cell phones in hide-and-seek… And you know what, it was also times like these when I was glad I didn't have that bothersome invention to take away my alone time with Yumi. After all, when did I ever get to spend time like this with her? Not a whole lot. Then again, I always imagined myself throwing rocks at her window in the middle of the night and having her climb down to me, instead of being stuck in a transporter with her. But hey, whatever works...

Then it hit me like a rock, square in my forehead.

"Yumi, may I see your flashlight?" I asked, unable to hide my hopefulness and excitement.

I heard her shuffle around in her pocket before she handed it to me. "Just don't use it for too long, please. The batteries are low."

I pressed the button and the light shone weakly in the small, round container. But heck, dim or bright, it was a light, and that was what I needed.

I shined over every perimeter, while Yumi and Kiwi watched me curiously.

"So what is it you are doing?" the Japanese girl questioned me. I didn't answer at first, as I was involved in my work.

"I was thinking; somewhere on this contraption should be a place where the plug from the computer is located. I might be able to.." I cut myself short when I saw it – a small, black square on the opposite side of the door. It was attached pretty well, but if I banged on it hard enough, there was a chance that it would budge loose.

So, I began thrusting the flashlight against the square, making the light flicker, and Yumi's face twitch.

"Those things aren't free, you know," she said, trying to avoid getting hit by my flailing arm.

"I'll buy you a new one when we get out of here," I offered, continuing my work.

It took quite a few collisions from the handheld contraption until I saw my work begin to prevail. I beamed the dying light on the square, to see it cracked in several places.

"Watch out," I warned, and I lifted my arm as far back as I could, before slamming it on the black square. It completely shattered, spraying tiny bits of plastic everywhere.

I panted and leaned back, admiring my work. "I don't know what Franz Hopper was thinking when he built this stuff. It's all so obsolete," I joked, out of breath. Yumi raised a brow, looking utterly unimpressed.

"Um, so, what exactly did that accomplish, besides ruining my flashlight?" I scratched my head.

"Well, for one, it gave us an air hole. Now we can get some fresh air. And another, even though this square is facing the wall, maybe now Jeremie, Odd, and Aelita can hear us if we yell."

Yumi seemed convinced now, and sat back against the curved wall. I left the flashlight on and peeped through the small hole, though I could see barely anything outside of the transporter. Kiwi yipped and wagged his tail, and that suddenly gave me another idea.

"So, do you think we could mush Kiwi through this hole?" I asked, laughing a little bit, but I was more than serious.

Yumi shrugged. "Let's give it a try," she said, and she reached down to clutch the dog.

Kiwi whimpered as his face was pushed through the hole, and Yumi was violently trying to get the rest of his body through.

"No, no, you got to twist him a bit more. Like this!" I grabbed Kiwi's rump and try wiggling his body left and right, and he inched a tiny bit forward. I heard Yumi give a dry laugh, which made me start giggling, too, and pretty soon we were leaning against each other, laughing ourselves to death. I pointed at Kiwi, though I was unable to speak with my laughter, and Yumi banged her right fist against the wall, her face red and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Now that I think back on it, I'm not even sure what was so funny about that ordeal. Maybe it was just the stress of being inside that cramped thing for hours finally being released in the form of laughter? Whatever it was, we were laughing so hard that we didn't even notice the footsteps climbing down the ladder into the transporter room.

Next thing we new, Odd was gasping and running towards Kiwi. I stopped laughing, though my chest heaved a couple times from holding a few outbursts in.

"Odd!" Yumi said, the relief in her voice spilling out. "I'm glad you came! We're stuck!"

At the same moment, the flashlight on the ground between us shut off, and I heard Odd say, "Yeah, and apparently Kiwi is, too! What were you guys doing?"

Kiwi suddenly started moving forward slowly, and eventually he was pulled out of the hole. Then came a bright light shining in our faces.

That ticked me off. "Am I the only one who doesn't cheat at hide-and-seek?!"

"Never mind that," Yumi cried. "How are we getting out of here?"

I shook my head. "Never mind? I'm the only person here who doesn't cheat at a simple child's game of hide-and-seek, and you tell me to forget about it?"

I was ignored. Odd rambled, "Jeremie and Aelita are upstairs trying to get the emergency power on. Fortunately the main computer always has a backup battery, but the other parts of the factory doesn't."

At that moment, the familiar flash of light turned on, making all of us squint, and the sound of working machinery told us that they (the geniuses Jeremie and Aelita) got the power to come back on.

The door to the transporter opened, and Yumi bolted out of the restricted domain, while I still sat there. I gave a small sigh, and then stood up, feeling my legs almost buckle beneath me.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

* * *

**Hmmm… What do you say of me making another CL story where Ulrich and Odd get locked inside of the school during winter break?**

**Tell me what you think, everyone!**


End file.
